U.S. Rig Count Holds Steady at 1830 - Analyst Blog
May 24 2011 - 9:53AM
Zacks
In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company
Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) reported an unchanged U.S.
rig count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the
country), as an increase in the number of oil rigs was offset by a
fall in the natural gas rig count.
Interestingly, there were more rigs drilling for oil than
gas for the fifth week in a row. This has happened for the first
time since 1995 with companies looking to capitalize on soaring oil
prices, which are currently trending at around $98 a barrel.
The Baker Hughes rig count, issued since 1944, acts as an
important yardstick for drilling contractors such as
Transocean Inc. (RIG), Diamond
Offshore (DO), Noble Corp. (NE),
Pride International (PDE ) , Nabors Industries
(NBR), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) and
Helmerich & Payne (HP) in gauging the overall
business environment of the oil and gas industry.
Weekly Summary
Rigs engaged in exploration and production in the U.S. totaled
1,830 for the week ended May 20, 2011, same as the previous week’s
count.
The current nationwide rig count is more than double that of the
6-year low of 876 (set in the week ended June 12, 2009) and
significantly exceeds the prior-year level of 1,518. It rose to a
22-year high in 2008, peaking at 2,031 in the weeks ending August
29 and September 12.
Rigs engaged in land operations climbed by 1 to 1,781, while
inland waters activity increased by 1 to 18. However, offshore
drilling was down by 2 tat 31 rigs.
Natural Gas Rig Count
The natural gas rig count decreased for the second consecutive
week to 866 (a drop of 8 rigs from the previous week). As per the
most recent report, the number of gas-directed rigs is at their
lowest level since January 29, 2010 and is down nearly 13% from its
2010 peak of 992, reached during mid-August.
The current natural gas rig count remains 46% below its all-time
high of 1,606 reached back in late summer 2008, but has rebounded
strongly after bottoming out to a 7-year low of 665 on July 17,
2009. In the year-ago period, there were 969 active natural gas
rigs.
Oil Rig Count
The oil rig count was up by 7 to 954. The current tally – the
maximum in 23 years – is considerably higher than the previous
year’s rig count of 538. It has recovered strongly from a low of
179 in June 2009, rising more than 5 times.
Miscellaneous Rig Count
The miscellaneous rig count (primarily drilling for geothermal
energy), at 10, was up by 1 from the previous week.
Rig Count by Type
The number of vertical drilling rigs rose by 4 to 567, while the
horizontal/directional rig count (encompassing new drilling
technology that has the ability to drill and extract gas from dense
rock formations, also known as shale formations) was down by 4 to
1,263. In particular, horizontal rig units came off by 3 units from
last week’s all-time high of 1,041.
BAKER-HUGHES (BHI): Free Stock Analysis Report
DIAMOND OFFSHOR (DO): Free Stock Analysis Report
HELMERICH&PAYNE (HP): Free Stock Analysis Report
NABORS IND (NBR): Free Stock Analysis Report
NOBLE CORP (NE): Free Stock Analysis Report
PRIDE INTL INC (PDE): Free Stock Analysis Report
PATTERSON-UTI (PTEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
TRANSOCEAN LTD (RIG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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